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Help. Breastfeeding after supplementing problems.

My husband and I just had our first baby. I am having troubles on what to do atm. I had him on August 7th and our whole hospital visit i could not get him to latch, even with both lactation consultants. So i was hand expressing for him. Then on the day we are going to get discharged we are told he needs to be supplemented so that his jaundice doesn't get worse. So we did. I still hadn't gotten him to latch but was not giving up. Trying every time he was hungry. 2 days later my milk came in so i returned to the lactation consultant and we finally got him to latch. But now that he has had formula i am having the hardest time getting him off of it. Right now i am pumping, and breastfeeding. But i am making very little and he completely drains me then is still rooting around hungry. So we try to keep him distracted so that we don't give him any formula but in the end we give him a little formula and he is satisfied. I don't know what to do until my milk supply goes up. Do i keep doing what i am doing? I need advice ladies.

Re: Help. Breastfeeding after supplementing problems.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new baby! It's wonderful that you managed to get him to latch on. I have some questions for you which may help us help you better.
- How much formula are you using at this point? (How many bottles per day, how many oz in each bottle?)
- How many oz of milk do you get when you pump?
- What sort of pump are you using? (Make, model)
- How often are you pumping?
- How often does baby nurse?
- How does nursing feel? Any pain or discomfort?
- How do you know that you're making "very little" milk?

Re: Help. Breastfeeding after supplementing problems.

Hi I just wanted to let you know that this is very early days and this can surely be turned around. if you want to nurse your baby, keep trying, your chances of being able to do so are very good.

Mommal has many good questions. Many, many moms mistake normal nursing/infant behavior as signs they do not "make enough" or that their baby is hungry.

In your case your confidence has probably taken a hit because your baby could not latch at first. But you did exactly as you should under such circumstances-you fed baby, you pumped to bring in your milk supply, and you got help from a lactation consultant. Great! Now you need to take the next step, which is weaning off the supplements. This can be a slow process or fast, it depends on many things. But with good breastfeeding practices, (which means removing milk from the breasts effectively and frequently, by baby if at all possible and by pumping if not) very few mothers are literally not able to make enough milk for their babies. You and your baby were made to do this, and you probably can, with the right information, good hands on assistance, support from your family and confidence in yourself.

Re: Help. Breastfeeding after supplementing problems.

- How much formula are you using at this point? (How many bottles per day, how many oz in each bottle?) It depends on how much breastmilk he gets via pumped or on the boob. But i usually only supplement with 1 oz at this point. Sometimes 2oz when i cant get anything out of my breasts.
- How many oz of milk do you get when you pump? Every 2 hours i get about 1 oz total.
- What sort of pump are you using? (Make, model) pump in style bye medela.
- How often are you pumping? 2-3 hours
- How often does baby nurse? 3 times a day because my nipples are scabbed and bleed if i do it more because the scabbed area gets soft. But its almost healed.
- How does nursing feel? Any pain or discomfort? The letdown hurts a little and i am trying to get him to latch a little better but its getting better everyday.
- How do you know that you're making "very little" milk? maybe very little was the wrond wording now that i look at it. I think i meant more like little compared to his formula intake. Like he wants more than i am making.

Re: Help. Breastfeeding after supplementing problems.

tears are normal. its partly hormones and partly exhaustion and partly the overwhelming feelings of new motherhood. Normal! if the feelings get too much to handle, talk to you hcp.

I would suggest-when you can, start nursing more often. If latch is improved, many moms find healing can continue while nursing. just fyi, a little ingested blood from craked nipple will not hurt your baby.

if you cannot start nursing at least 10 times a day in the next day or two, consider renting a hosp. grade pump. the p&s is not designed for this kind of frequent pumping or for bringing milk 'in; or increasing milk supply. considering you are not using the best pump for your situation, your pump output is not bad at all. anywhere from 1/2oz to 2 ounces would be about what you can expect to pump in these early days even with a rental pump. Some moms make more when pumpimg, some less, pumps are just tricky. And milk supply cannot be measured by how much you pump. a baby is much more effective at milk removal than a pump, esp. a personal use pump.

a baby this age nurses at least 10-12 times a 24 hour day. So if you are pumping to make up for some nursing sessions, the combined nursing and pumping should total at least that often-or as close as you can do. pumping chart http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...umpigchart.pdf

Re: Help. Breastfeeding after supplementing problems.

Congrats on becoming a mommy! It's the best!

I am by no means as knowledgeable as the other women on this site, but I also just had a baby and wanted to pass on some advice that I found very helpful. Assuming you have a good latch, and your nipples just need to heal, I recommend going topless as much as possible and keep your nipples moist. I use the Lansinoh lanolin almost constantly and my nipples no longer bleed when I nurse (we also got off to a rocky start). In fact, they're almost healed. If your latch still needs improvement, I STRONGLY recommend getting an IBCLC. It's one of the best investments I've made, for sure. Having someone help you in YOUR comfort zone, give you personalized help and be available to you for one on one support via telephone afterwards is invaluable. You won't be disappointed!

Good luck, mama. You should be proud of yourself for your continued effort... many women choose to just give up.